Hyster-Yale agreement centers on robotic forklifts

Forklift truck maker Hyster-Yale Group has entered into a preferred vendor cooperation agreement with robotics specialist Balyo Inc. to market self-guided trucks in North America. Hyster-Yale says the agreement will allow it to “broaden its capabilities by offering robotic high-productivity solutions for the materials handling industry, while Balyo aims to accelerate adoption of its innovative robotic solutions.”

Balyo technology is designed to enable trucks to navigate without the help of reflectors, wires or magnets. Instead the technology selects structural elements of the facility to build a digital map. Once the map is created, each self-guided truck compares, in real time, what its navigation module sees against the stored map, allowing the truck to self-locate and move along its intended path.

Massachusetts based Balyo Inc. is a subsidiary of Balyo SA, a French company that specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of autonomous driving forklifts based on standard trucks.

Hyster-Yale Group designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and services lift trucks and aftermarket parts marketed globally primarily under the Hyster and Yale brand names. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cleveland-based Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc.